


We Were Dancing With Our Hands Tied

by The7Rings



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cheerleader and Nerd Trope, El is popular and sweet, Eventual Implied Sexual Content, Everyone is musically talented, F/M, Falling In Love, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Glee References, High School, High School AU, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Mike has been in love with El for years, Modern Era, Music, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27650837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The7Rings/pseuds/The7Rings
Summary: Mike Wheeler is a misfit at Hawkins High School who has been in love with El Hopper since 7th grade. He joined the school’s show choir to express himself through his love of music. What will happen when he needs a female vocalist that is compatible with him?El Hopper is a sweet cheerleader with a mysterious past she keeps hidden from the world. Her love for music is how she escapes the traumas from her past. What happens when she gets recruited for the Hawkins High show choir? What will her popular friends think when she commits in their words, “social suicide?”A story of two very different people who fall in love through their shared love of music despite forces that drive to keep them apart.A Stranger Things Glee inspired, modern high school AU fic!
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Suzie, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Comments: 21
Kudos: 34





	1. I’ve been facing trouble almost all my life

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my first story that I’m posting on this app. I’ve had this idea in my head for a really long time and finally decided to get it out there. It’s kind of a Glee-esque AU. It’s not completely the same story, but there are elements that I took for this story that you’ll see. In this story, El does not have powers. This will be a slow-burn with a lot of moving parts going on. I’m not sure yet how long this story will be, but I have a lot of ideas and plans that I’m excited for. I’m also going to include at the end of each chapter the songs that inspired each chapter/songs that I imagined would be performed in each chapter for reference. Please leave your comments! Hope you like it!

High school was not a place for people like Mike Wheeler. At 16 years old, Mike was one of the biggest losers at Hawkins High School. Tall, lanky, and nerdy, he found himself at the bottom of the social hierarchy that was high school. 

This wasn’t new to him, no quite on the contrary actually. Having grown up in Hawkins his whole life, Mike was used to everyone in his class throwing insults at him and shoving him into lockers. Maybe it was because throughout his whole life, Mike was always top of his class and got along well with his teachers. Maybe it was because he and his friends spent their weekends playing video games instead of partying or going to sporting events. Maybe it was because he was a member of and the lead male vocalist of the school’s show choir.

Whatever the reason was, once high school started, he found himself looked down upon by nearly everyone in his school.

One the first day of junior year, Mike got up and began his morning routine slower than usual. He had no desire to start school yet and wanted to hold onto whatever freedom he had left for as long as possible. His mom and older sister, Nancy however, were already downstairs waiting for him to finish.

“Mike! Come on! We’re going to be late and I told Jonathan I’d meet him before first period!” Nancy was standing with her hands on her hips at the bottom of the stairs yelling up to him.

Nancy was 2 years older than Mike, a senior, and somehow her reputation hadn’t been ruined when her brother started attending high school with her 2 years prior. Her boyfriend, Jonathan, was the brother of one of Mike’s only friends, Will.

“Jeez, I’m coming, just give me a minute. I’m not exactly thrilled to be going back to the place that’s more like hell than a school,” Mike grumbled as he trudged down the stairs.

Nancy rolled her eyes and shoved his backpack into his arms.

“Look I know high school sucks, but you’re halfway through it. Soon you’ll be off at college away from all of these idiots and you’ll never have to see them again.”

Mike didn’t respond merely shooting Nancy a look that said he wasn’t in the mood for a pep talk. 

Mike’s mother, Karen Wheeler, bustled over and through her arms around Mike before he had the chance to sneak out the door.

“Good luck today, Mike! I’m so proud of the young man you’ve become.”

Mike wrestled himself out of his mother’s arms. “Ugh, mom! Let me go. I don’t want to be late.”

His mom just looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I know, I’m just so proud. You’ve grown up so much. A junior in high school?! Where did the time go?”

“Okay, mom. I really need to go.” Mike really didn’t need to listen to his mom drone on and on about how ‘grown up he’s become.’

Mike grabbed his jacket and followed Nancy out to her car in the driveway climbing into the passenger side. Nancy plugged her phone into the cord and put her music on shuffle. Mike leaned his head against the window staring out. The weather was rainy today, a metaphor for how his high school career had been going thus far. He had no reason to believe this year would be any different. 

He thought about his only friends, grateful that he had them to get through high school with. Will Byers, his oldest friend, was a quiet, but kind person who always knew how to read other people’s emotions. Will’s father left him and his family when he was young and since then, it’s been hard for Will to open up to anyone outside of his friends. Lucas Sinclair had been Mike’s next door neighbor since they were in preschool. Lucas was strong-willed, but was as loyal a friend as you could get. Even when he joined the basketball team their freshman year, Lucas never let that get in the way of his friendship with Mike and his other friends. Dustin Henderson joined their group in the 4th grade. Dustin was a friendly, hilarious person with a heart of gold. Dustin’s cleidocranial dysostosis was an insecurity of his, but he hid it well and tried to take after his old friend and Nancy’s ex-boyfriend, Steve Harrington.

The 4 of them were often the subject of ridicule at school for various reasons. Will for rumors that he was gay, Lucas because he was African American, Dustin because of his cleidocranial dysostosis, and Mike because of his general awkward and nerdy nature.

Thankfully, they had remained close through all of this and stuck together. Although this summer they weren’t able to see each other as much due to everyone getting summer jobs. Mike and Will and Melvald’s, Lucas at the community pool, and Dustin at the library.

Before Mike knew it, they had pulled into the Hawkins High School parking lot. He looked around and saw students milling around. Many were standing by their cars talking and laughing. Mike looked around for any of his friends, but so far he didn’t spot any of them.

He heard Nancy get out of the car so Mike slowly forced himself out too.

“Hey, I think I see Jonathan over there. I’ll see you after school okay?” Nancy asked him.

“Yeah see you later,” Mike responded, but Nancy didn’t wait to hear it before she walked off to where Jonathan was standing by the side door.

Mike sighed and adjusted his backpack on his shoulder before he started walking to the front door. He could hear other students chatting with each other about their summers. He tried to keep his head down so no one would notice him while also keeping on the lookout for any of his friends.

As he made his way down the hallway to his locker, he overheard Dustin’s laugh. Mike looked up and spotted Dustin’s signature red and blue hat standing by a locker at the end of the hallway. Next to him was Stacey Albright, the girl Dustin began dating at the beginning of the summer.

To say that Mike was surprised when Dustin told them he had started dating Stacey would be an understatement. Stacey Albright had never before looked at any of them with anything other than disgust. She was the captain of the cheerleading squad and had no problem letting her self-righteous attitude known. Mike was skeptical why all of a sudden Stacey had taken an interest in Dustin, but he knew how excited Dustin was and didn’t want to burst his bubble. Even after she and Dustin started dating, Stacey never changed her attitude towards Mike, Lucas, or Will.

Mike decided it best not to interrupt them as he didn’t want to engage with Stacey. So he continued down the hallways towards his own locker. His mind wandered to the first show choir practice which would be on Wednesday after school. The school show choir was considered social suicide to anyone who joined it. Mike knew how all his classmates talked about it. 

“Only dweebs join show choir.” 

“Whatever you do, don’t join show choir, it’s like social suicide.” 

“Do you know one cool person who’s ever been in show choir?”

So all in all, Mike was a member of the club that everyone else thought was lame. There were only 6 members of the club last year. Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and 2 girls, a skateboarding red-head with a sarcastic attitude, Max Mayfield, and a nerdy, bespectacled dark-haired girl, Suzie.

Mike and his friends got along well enough with the girls in the group, but they weren’t exactly friends. Max could be sarcastic and standoffish, she was often found skateboarding around school and seemed to keep to herself. Suzie was sweet, but could sometimes get annoying after a while.

As Mike continued down the hall towards his locker, deep in thought about the first show choir rehearsal of the year, he felt himself get shoved against the nearest lockers. With a grunt, he stumbled back up and looked into the face of the one person at Hawkins High who hated him the most, Troy Walsh.

Troy Walsh, also known as the start quarterback of the Hawkins High football team and all around golden-boy. Troy had spent the last 10 years of Mike’s life tormenting him and his friends. 10 years of name calling, getting shoved against lockers and walls, and the occasional punch in the face or stomach. Any hope that Mike would get to his locker today without being attacked vanished.

“Well if it isn’t Frogface! Where are your little nerdy friends? Don’t you losers travel in a pack?” Troy was sneering at him, arms crossed over his chest.

Mike rolled his eyes and attempted to push past Troy, but Troy was faster.

“Woah, woah, woah there, Frogface, I don’t think so. You didn’t think I’d miss my annual first day of school punch Wheeler in the face did you? This’ll be, what, 11 years in a row, right?” Troy was crooning to the small group of people who were watching the scene unfold.

Mike’s mouth was moving before he could stop himself. “Wow, Troy. I’m surprised you can count that high. Aren’t you taking remedial math again this year?”

The sneer that was on Troy’s face vanished and Mike could see the hatred in his eyes as he pushed Mike roughly against the locker.

“You really want to run your fucking mouth right now, Frogface? You already know I can beat your ass. Don’t tempt me.”

Mike was rolling his eyes again and this time he managed to push Troy off of him. Troy was faster though and had swung his arm back when another voice from down the hall broke through the crowd.

“TROY! What are you doing?!”

Mike turned his head towards the noise and felt his heartbeat speed up. There, standing at the end of the hallway in her orange and green cheerleading uniform was El Hopper.

El Hopper had moved to Hawkins in 7th grade with the new Chief of Police, Jim Hopper. With Hawkins being a small town, there were never many new people. El had charmed Hawkins with her kind disposition. She quickly became absorbed by the popular crowd, however she remained sweet and humble 4 years later.

Pretty much from the moment Mike saw her in his 7th grade science class, he had been in love with her. How could he not be? She was sweet and smart and absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately for him, because they ran in different social circles, he was convinced she didn’t even know he existed. It also didn’t help his case that she began dating Troy at the end of their sophomore year. With him being the star quarterback and her being a talented cheerleader, it logically made sense. Mike, however, seemed to be the only one who felt she was way too good for Troy.

At the sound of El’s voice, Troy let go of Mike.

“Ellie, there you are! I was just coming to look for you.” Troy raised his arms and flashed her a smile.

El did not look impressed by his statement and began storming down the hall to where Troy and Mike were standing. Mike took the opportunity to look at her as she stopped in front of them. She was tiny, barely 5’2. Her wavy, honey-brown hair was currently pulled back in a ponytail on her head with a green scrunchie. Her orange and green cheerleading outfit contrasted with the light tan of her skin. She was frowning and looking between Mike and Troy with her brown eyes. Mike flushed under her gaze.

“Troy, seriously? I thought we talked about this! You can’t just go around attacking people!” El had her hands on her hips and was now glaring at Troy.

Troy sighed and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling.

“I’m sorry, Ellie. I’m trying, I really am. Wheeler here was just acting like a jerk.”

At this, Mike found his voice. “What?! I didn’t do anything! You’re the one who came out of nowhere and shoved me!” Mike glared at Troy, fists clenched at his sides. He wasn’t sure where he found the courage to defend himself, but he didn’t want El to think he was the one who started this.

El turned to look at him and stared at him for a moment. Mike flushed again. He was sure she hadn't known he existed until this moment. El gave him a small, but kind smile before turning back to Troy.

“Don’t lie to me, Troy. I’m not stupid. I know how you’ve treated people in the past. Leave him alone.” Despite the fact that she was tiny, in this moment, El Hopper looked and sounded intimidating.

Mike was shocked. El was normally a very sweet and shy person, not that he was complaining, that was one of the things that he liked about her. But he would be lying if he said it said it didn’t feel good to have the girl he’s been crushing on for the past 4 years stand up for him to his enemy, even if that enemy was her own boyfriend.

Troy sighed again and grabbed one of her hands.

“I’m really sorry, Ellie. I’ll do better for you, I promise.” Troy offered her a small smile that Mike thought looked fake.

El seemed to soften a little bit as she blushed a little at his words.

“Just stop doing it, okay? I don’t like when you hurt other people,” El said earnestly.

“Okay I will,” Troy responded, but Mike wasn’t convinced he was being honest with her.

El turned back to Mike with an apologetic smile. “I’m really sorry about him. I hope he didn’t hurt you.”

Mike opened his mouth to respond and thank her for defending him, but the first bell rang.

Troy immediately grabbed El’s hand and pulled her away. “Come on, Ellie. I don’t want to be late for homeroom.”

El went with him, but turned around briefly and sent Mike another apologetic smile and a wave.

Mike attempted to return it, but his mind was still reeling from what happened. El now knew he existed, even if she didn’t know who he was. El defended him to her own boyfriend.

Mike leaned back against the locker behind him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady his fast beating heart.

“Hey, you okay? I heard Troy cornered you.”

Mike opened his eyes and saw his friend, Will Byers standing in front of him looking concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t hit me or anything, thank god.” Mike hesitated before telling Will the rest. “Um his girlfriend, you know, El Hopper? She stopped him and told him to lay off.”

Mike could feel his face blushing and Will must’ve noticed because he gave Mike a knowing smirk.

“Oh El Hopper? That was nice of her. She’s really nice and pretty, don’t you think Michael?”

Mike blushed even harder and rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Byers. Come on, we’re gonna be late if we don’t hurry up.”

Will dropped the subject and the two of them headed off towards homeroom.

“Hey, show choir practice starts this Wednesday. I think Mr. Clarke is gonna want to recruit people because there’s only 6 of us,” Will said.

Mike nodded. “Yeah I think so too. I don’t know who he expects to recruit because everyone else in this school thinks show choir is the lamest thing here.”

“I don’t know, but we need more females that’s for sure. I mean you’re the obvious choice as far as the lead male vocalist, but Max and Suzie’s voices really don’t mesh well with yours. We need to find someone with a compatible voice to yours if we want to win any competitions.”

“I agree, I just hope we can find someone.” Mike wasn’t convinced they would find someone in this school. He enjoyed singing and everyone said he was the most talented, but they needed a female vocalist that would sound well with him.

The two of them walked to their homeroom together and saw that no one else they were friends with was in the class with them. Mike sat down in the front next to Will and put his head in his hands. This year was already starting out in a weird way and he wasn’t sure yet what to make of it.

Little did Mike know that this year would ultimately change everything...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I really really appreciate it! Please let your comments, I hope to have the next chapter out soon :)
> 
> The songs that inspired this chapter:  
> Trouble by Cage the Elephant  
> Believe by The Bravery


	2. They say that the world was built for two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support on this story! Believe me, I don’t want Troy and El together either lol but this story is going to be a rollercoaster of emotions and A LOT is going to happen so brace yourselves. I already have the story pretty mapped out and I’m excited to get it out there! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Aside from his run in with Troy, Mike’s first three days of school were fairly uneventful. At least three times a day he would hear someone shout an insult at him or shove past him purposefully in the halls, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Thankfully, he shared most of his classes with Will, Lucas, and Dustin so they were able to stick together. Since they were “nerds,” they mostly took Honors and AP level courses, which meant they were always in the same classes. He recognized some other people in some of his classes too like Suzie, who also seemed to be taking all Honors and AP classes too, Max Mayfield who was in their Honors pre-calculus and AP chemistry classes, and El who was in his AP history, Honors pre-calculus, and AP chemistry classes. Thankfully, Troy cared too much about his athletic career to do well in his classes so Mike didn’t have any classes with him.

On Wednesday morning, Mike headed to AP chemistry with Will, Lucas, and Dustin. He sat at his lab table he shared with Will. Lucas and Dustin shared a table across the aisle from them. He could see Suzie sharing a table with Max, who did not look thrilled to be listening to Suzie chatting with her this early in the morning.

Just before the bell rang, Mike felt his heart speed up as El walked through the door chatting with her friend, Jennifer Hayes, a popular, blonde cheerleader. Mike tried not to feel like a creep as he watched El walk towards the table she shared with Jennifer, which was right in front of his and Will’s.

As she walked towards her table, she caught Mike’s eye. Mike felt his whole face heat up and quickly dropped his gaze.

“Hey, are you alright? You look a little flustered there,” Will was saying to him.

Mike tried to clear his throat. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

Will followed Mike’s gaze to where El was sitting at her table pulling her notebook out of her backpack. He turned back to Mike with a smirk on his face.

“You know you could just talk to her. She’s really nice and friendly once you get to know her.”

Mike turned back at Will with an incredulous look. “I can’t talk to her just because she defended me to Troy, he’s still her boyfriend, remember?”

Will just rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond.

Their chemistry class went by fast as their teacher gave them a lab to complete. Mike proved to be not much help though as he kept stealing glances over at El, who was busy doing the lab with Jennifer.

“MIKE!” Will exclaimed.

Mike looked back at their table and noticed that he had poured too much of his chemical into the beaker and it was now overflowing.

“Shit! Sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Mike quickly tried to clean it up without making too much of a mess. He could hear some of his classmates laughing, but he tried to ignore them despite the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment.

Needless to say, the teacher wasn’t too happy about it and made Mike and Will stay after class and clean up their mess, meaning they were 5 minutes late to their English class.

Dustin and Lucas were already sitting down when they arrived.

“Man, you have it bad,” Dustin said, shaking his head as Mike sat down.

“Can we drop it please?” Mike said, scowling at him.

Just as Dustin opened his mouth to respond, Stacey walked into class, also late, and looking flustered and out of breath. Nevertheless, she walked to her desk with her usual HBIC attitude and flashed Dustin a smile when she walked by. Thankfully, her reaction rendered Dustin speechless from whatever more he was going to say to Mike.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by at a slow rate, so Mike was relieved when the bell rang and signaled the end of the school day.

Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin walked together to the choir room for their first show choir rehearsal of the year. 

Max and Suzie were already there when the boys arrived. Suzie was attempting to engage Max in a conversation about what songs she wanted to sing this year, while Max had her earbuds in, clearly ignoring everything Suzie was saying. As soon as the boys walked in, Suzie’s head whipped around and a wide smile appeared on her face when she saw Dustin.

“Hi, Dustin!” Suzie exclaimed with an enthusiastic wave.

“Hey, Suzie,” Dustin replied with a smile.

Suzie blushed and opened her mouth to speak again, but Mr. Clarke had arrived.

“Hello everyone! It’s so good to see you all. I hope everyone had a good summer.” Mr. Clarke smiled around at the six of them. Mike had been close with Mr. Clarke ever since middle school when he was their science teacher. He got a job with the high school their freshman year as a biology teacher and took over as the show choir director too.

“I’m glad you all decided to come back for another year in choir. I know some people at this school think it’s lame, but I think you guys are some of the coolest people at this school for doing something different!” Mr. Clarke was beaming at the students.

Mike heard Max snort and cross her arms over her chest.

“Alrighty then! Let’s get started, shall we? Mike, why don’t you and Suzie take the leads for this first one.” Mr. Clarke handed Mike and Suzie their sheet music and encouraged everyone to join in.

The rehearsal went…about as well as you’d expect. Mike liked Suzie enough, but their voices didn’t mesh well together and so he found it difficult. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“Mr. Clarke, we suck,” Max said when they finished rehearsing.

Lucas nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, no offense Mike and Suzie, but you guys have zero musical chemistry.”

Mr. Clarke sighed. “Look, I know it’s hard. I’m trying to recruit more people to our group so we can have some new talent, but not a lot of people at this school want to join show choir.”

Mr. Clarke looked discouraged so the rest of the group did not push the subject any further.

At the end of the rehearsal, Mike walked out with Will, Lucas, and Dustin and started towards their lockers.

“Man, that was a rough rehearsal,” Dustin sighed.

“It was our first one. It’s been a while, we’ve just been out of practice, we’ll get better,” Will reasoned.

“No, he’s right. Max and Suzie are great, but we need a new female lead. Someone who can keep up with Mike vocally,” Lucas said.

“Yeah, but who the hell in this school is going to want to join show choir?” Mike responded. They had reached his locker and he started to grab his jacket.

“I don’t know, I hope Mr. Clarke finds someone though,” Dustin grumbled. “Hey, I gotta run. I told Stacey I’d meet her after rehearsal so we can make out in her car.” Dustin smirked at the rest of the boys and began walking away.

“Ugh, gross dude! We don’t need to know!” Lucas called after him before he turned to Will. “You need a ride home, Byers?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind. My mom’s working til 6 and Jonathan’s out with Nancy.”

“No problem, see you tomorrow, Mike!” Lucas called as he and Will walked towards the front door to the parking lot.

Mike lifted his hand half-heartedly in a wave before he turned back to grab the rest of his stuff out of his locker. He just needed to grab his history textbook and then he could go home too. He looked all over his locker and in his backpack, but couldn’t find it. He sighed as he realized he probably left it in the history classroom. 

Mike shut his locker and began walking back towards where he had his history class. As he walked down the hall, he could hear someone coming down the other hallway and slowed down so he wouldn’t have to run into them. He knew the sports teams got out not too long ago and didn’t want another run in with Troy.

As the footsteps continued down the hallway, he could hear that the person was singing. As Mike listened, he immediately recognized the voice as a girl’s. She was singing a song he didn’t recognize, but he felt goosebumps break out on his arms at her voice. Her voice was simply put, breathtaking. Soft, but rich and she clearly could hit notes no one else he knew could. Mike didn’t know what it was, but something about the way her voice sounded made him sure that his voice would sound perfect mixed with hers. He peaked around the corner to see who the voice belonged to and his heart nearly missed a beat.

Standing at her locker, headphones in her ears and gym bag slung over her shoulder, was El. She didn’t notice Mike as she continued singing along to whatever song was playing on her phone. She was still wearing her cheerleading uniform and was just closing her locker when she turned around and her brown eyes met his.

El clearly didn’t expect anybody to be there as she gasped and dropped the books she had been holding. Realizing that he has been watching her like a creepy loser, Mike quickly came back to himself and walked over to help her with her books.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Mike said as he bent down to help her.

“It’s fine, really, I just didn’t know anyone was around.” El responded as she started putting the books back in her backpack.

“Still, I should’ve made myself known or something.” Mike handed her the last book as they both stood up.

She smiled at him. “Really it’s okay. I was just startled, that’s all.”

Mike attempted to smile back, but was convinced it came out more of a grimace than anything else. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Was that you singing? You sounded amazing!”

El blushed a deep red. “Oh! Um yeah that was me. I was just singing along to my music. Thank you though, I like singing a lot. My mom used to tell me when I was little that I had a nice voice.” She seemed to think she had said too much because she blushed again and looked down at her feet and didn’t continue.

This was the first time Mike had ever heard anything about El’s mother. When she moved to Hawkins, it was just her and her father and he never heard anything from anyone about her mom. However, he felt now wasn’t the time to bring it up, especially since this was the first real conversation he had ever had with El.

“Cool, yeah you sounded really um good, yeah really nice,” Mike stuttered.

El giggled and smiled at him. “Thank you, I appreciate it and thank you for helping me with my books.”

“Oh, yeah no problem. Hey, um, have you ever thought about joining show choir? I think you’d make a really good addition,” As soon as Mike said it, he wished he hadn’t. He didn’t plan on asking El, one of the most popular girls in their grade and a member of the cheerleading squad, to join show choir. He wasn’t even sure why he asked, he already knew she’d say no.

To his immense surprise, she didn’t laugh at him or look disgusted, she merely looked surprised. “Really? I hadn’t thought about it before. I guess I’m kind of afraid of singing in front of other people.”

“It’s not too bad once you get used to it. It’s actually really fun. We meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school from 3 to 4:30 and we sing all kinds of songs. I mean, I know you probably have cheer practice, but it might be fun.” Mike realized he was rambling and forced himself to shut up.

El actually smiled at him. “Yeah that does sound fun, I’ll definitely think about it.”

Mike felt his face grow into a smile. “Cool! Yeah, that’s great! Oh um, I’m Mike by the way, Mike Wheeler.” He held out his hand to her.

She grabbed his hand and shook it, “El Hopper.” She didn’t need to say this as Mike already knew her name, but he felt his face blush when she took his hand.

“Hey, um I never got to thank you for standing up for me the other day. I know that probably wasn’t easy, standing up to your boyfriend like that,” Mike said rubbing the back of his neck.

El waved it off. “It’s no problem. I’ve been telling him to lay off everyone because he can act like a jerk. I think he’s trying, but he can slip back into his old tendencies.”

Mike wanted to scoff and tell her that Troy will never fully shed his jerk persona, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment. “Right, well seriously, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Well, I should go. My dad’s probably outside waiting for me. Nice to meet you, Mike. I’ll see you around, maybe at choir practice!” She gave him one last smile and a little wave before she turned and walked out the front doors, her high ponytail swinging in time with her walk.

Mike let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and leaned against the lockers closing his eyes. He had no idea what just happened. He finally had an actual conversation with the girl he’s been crushing on since 7th grade and he invited her to join show choir?! This had to be a dream.

The next two days passed by in a blur as Mike kept replaying his and El’s conversation in his head. He decided to keep it to himself as he knew his friends would tease him endlessly about it.

By the time Friday afternoon came around, Mike had convinced himself that there was no way El was going to join choir. For one thing, as soon as she mentioned the idea to her friends, they would surely tell her that she would be committing social suicide if she joined. Plus, she hadn’t said anything more about it to Mike. Not that he was really expecting her to talk to him now, they still were in completely different social circles. Aside from a few smiles his way during the classes they shared together, not much had changed.

Therefore, when Friday’s choir practice started, Mike wasn’t shocked when he didn’t see El sitting in the room with the rest of the club.

“Okay everyone, let’s start today off by everyone giving me a few ideas for songs they’d like to do this year,” Mr. Clarke said, grabbing a marker to write on the white board. “Who wants to start?”

Suzie’s hand shot in the air just as the door creaked open.

All six students and Mr. Clarke turned towards the sound and Mike’s eyes widened. He heard Dustin gasp. 

El was standing in the doorway in a pink floral dress with a white sweater and brown boots toying with the ends of her hair, which was falling in waves around her shoulders.

“Hi, um, is this show choir practice?” She said nervously.

Lucas and Dustin turned to look at Mike with wide eyes, but Mike ignored them.

Mr. Clarke was beaming. “Yes it is! Who might you be?”

“I’m El Hopper, I’d like to audition.” She seemed to gain more confidence as she walked into the room.

Max and Suzie were looking at El as if she had three heads.

“YOU want to join show choir?!” Max exclaimed.

El looked at her and nodded. “Yes I do. I love singing and music.”

Mr. Clarke motioned for her to stand in front of everyone else. “Of course, of course. What will you be singing for us?”

“Video Games by Lana Del Rey,” El replied.

Mr. Clarke nodded his approval. “Whenever you’re ready.”

El took a deep breath before she began singing. It was a different song from the one she was singing in the hall the other day and Mike, once again, didn’t recognize it, but her voice still gave him chills and he found himself utterly entranced by her. Her voice carried so much emotion and strength. Mike found he couldn’t look away from her as he got lost in the beauty of her singing.

When the song was finished, she looked around uncertainly at the group. Mike also looked around and saw that the rest of the group had similar expressions as he did. Mr. Clarke, however, was beaming harder than ever.

El bit her lip and looked down. “Um, so yeah, that was it.”

Mr. Clarke started clapping and the rest of the choir joined in. “Fantastic! You have a beautiful voice, young lady! I’m sure you will be an excellent addition to our group, do we all agree?” He turned expectantly to the rest of the group.

“Definitely, that was amazing!” Dustin exclaimed.

“You sounded beautiful!” Suzie gushed.

“”Welcome aboard, little Ellie,” Max smirked.

El’s face broke out into a large grin that caused butterflies to erupt in Mike’s stomach.

“Wow, thank you so much! I’m so excited to be a part of your choir.” If any of the other popular kids had said this, it would’ve sounded fake, but with El she was just so sweet and genuine.

“We’re glad to have you a part of our team, El,” Mr. Clarke said. “Have a seat and we’ll get started.”

El, still beaming, walked over to introduce herself to everyone in the group. Finally, she sat down in a seat between Max and Mike. She turned and gave Mike a grin, which he shyly returned.

Mike tried not to think of how El’s friends would react on Monday when they heard one of their own became a member of the show choir. Instead, he focused on El’s smile, the light in her brown eyes, and her beautiful voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I’m hoping to have the next chapter out in the next couple of weeks :)
> 
> Songs that inspired/were used in this chapter:  
> Crashed by Daughtry  
> Raindrops (an angel cried) by Ariana Grande  
> Video Games by Lana Del Rey


	3. If I didn’t know better, but damn it I do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry this took longer than expected to post! I really hoped to have this chapter up a lot sooner. Finals just ended for me so I didn’t have as much time to write, but now I have some time off so hopefully I’ll be able to write more for this story. I don’t love this chapter, but I wanted to post something for y’all after being MIA. Sooo enjoy!
> 
> P.S. who else has spent the past week constantly listening to Taylor Swift’s new album evermore?! Let me know your fav song if you have! (Rn mine’s ‘tis the damn season)

By Monday morning, the news of cheerleader El Hopper joining the show choir had spread like a wildfire and everyone was talking about it.

When El walked into school, she could feel the stares and hear the whispers of her classmates. She felt uncomfortable with all of the attention. Despite being on the cheerleading squad, El really tried to keep a low profile at school and not draw attention to herself. She tended to stick close to her friends and even then, she found herself holding back. She tried to keep everyone at arm’s length so they would never find out about her past and what she had been through.

El forced herself to shake those memories out of her head. 

Now’s not the time.

She had just reached her locker when she saw a body out of the corner of her eye come up to her.

“Ellie, what the actual fuck?!” Troy asked/

El sighed, but didn’t look up at her as she continued gathering her books from her locker.

“Troy, seriously, it’s not a big deal,” El responded.

“‘Not a big deal?!’ Ellie, it IS a big deal! You can’t join show choir! You’re a cheerleader for God’s sake!”

El rolled her eyes. “I know I’m a cheerleader, but I can join show choir too. There’s not law that says I can’t. I enjoy singing, they told me I was good, so I joined. End of discussion.” She shut her locker and turned to walk towards her class.

Troy ran and caught up with her. “No, not end of discussion. Come on, Ellie, only losers join show choir!”

El stopped in her place and gave him a glare. “Seriously, Troy?! That’s so unfair! They’re not losers. Mike Wheeler was the one who told me I should join and I know you don’t get along with him for whatever reason, but he’s a really nice person.”

This was evidently the wrong thing to say because Troy’s face became scarlet and he scowled.

“Wheeler? He was the one who convinced you to join that losers club?!”

El tried to match his glare, but considering she was nearly a foot shorter than Troy, she didn’t look nearly as intimidating.

“Drop it, Troy. I’m doing this for me, you should be supporting me.”

Troy rolled his eyes. “Ellie, I want what’s best for you. That’s why I’m telling you this is a bad idea. There’s no way you’ll win Prom Queen if you’re in show choir.”

“Who says I even wanted to be Prom Queen?!” El snapped back.

“Come on, Ellie. Everyone knows you have a shot at winning. Do you really want to give that up just so you can sing some lame songs with a bunch of dweebs?”

El looked him straight in the eyes. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

And with that she stalked off down the hallway towards her AP chemistry class.

Troy watched as she walked away, an anger filling in his chest as he processed what just happened. He needed an outlet for his rage and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

Troy turned and strided down the hallway towards a familiar locker. Sure enough, when he turned the corner, he saw the person he hated most in the world grabbing books out of his locker. Troy advanced until he was at Mike’s locker and slammed the door shut.

Mike jumped when he heard his locker slam shut and turned towards the source of the noise. Troy was leaning against his locker with a look of pure hatred etched onto his face.

“What do you want, Troy?” Mike sighed.

“I want you to stay the fuck away from my girlfriend, Frogface,” Troy growled.

Mike tensed, but didn’t back down. “What are you talking about?”

“I know you were the one who convinced her to join that band of losers. I’m telling you now that you need to back off. If this is some scheme to get with her, it’s not going to work.”

“It’s not a scheme. She has a good voice and I told her so. That’s it.” Mike felt his anxiety increasing. He didn’t need Troy to find out about his secret crush on his girlfriend.

“Whatever. Just know that just because you two are singing together now, doesn’t mean you’ll ever have her.” Troy gave him one last glare and then turned on his heel and walked off.

Mike sighed and leaned his forehead against the cool metal of his locker. He really didn’t need Troy to remind him how completely out of his league El was. But, Mike realized, he also needed to get in control of his feelings and squash whatever hope he was holding onto now that El had joined show choir. Troy was right, there was no way El was suddenly going to see him as anything more than the loser he was. She had a boyfriend after all.

Mike straightened himself up and made his way to his first class. His heart sped up as he spotted El already seated at her lab table she shared with Jennifer. She looked up as he entered and gave him a soft smile and wave. Mike felt himself smile back as he made his way towards his table.

The rest of the day went by without a hitch for Mike. By the time his last period class ended, he was feeling anxious about show choir practice. This would be El’s first official rehearsal as a member. As it was established that they would be the main vocalists, they would probably sing together today.

When he finally made it to the choir room, El was already inside chatting with Max. He sat down beside the rest of his friends and tried not to feel nervous about singing with El.

Mr. Clarke arrived a few minutes later absolutely beaming at the students.

“Good afternoon everyone! I have some very exciting news. I talked to the principal and he’s agreed to let us perform at the school’s pep rally this Friday before the first game!”

His announcement was met with silence from the rest of the group. Generally, the show choir didn’t perform in front of the school because no one wanted to hear a bunch of losers singing. El was the first one to speak.

“In front of the whole school?” She asked looking at Mr. Clarke with a terrified expression.

“Yep! So we need to get started rehearsing right away. Now I have an idea for a song we can do, it’s a little old, but I know back in my day this song was all the rage!”

Mike inwardly groaned. He loved Mr. Clarke, but his musical choices were always dated and bad. He knew that whatever song he picked wouldn’t go well. He looked around and saw the rest of the group looking apprehensively at Mr. Clarke.

Sure enough, after Mr. Clarke announced which song he wanted them to sing and showed them the choreography, the rehearsal went poorly. Mike had never heard of the song before so he kept messing up the words, El was so nervous that she too kept messing up her parts, and everyone else couldn’t keep up with the dance moves.

“We suck,” Max stated after they ran through it the 5th time.

“We’ll get there,” said Mr. Clarke, although he too looked discouraged. “Mike and El, can you guys practice together before Wednesday?”

Mike looked over at El who still looked overwhelmed. She met his eyes and nodded.

“Yeah, we’ll work on it,” said Mike.

“Okay great, you guys are dismissed. See you all on Wednesday.”

Mike walked over to where El was standing. He wrung his hands in front of him as he approached her.

“Hey, El. Are you able to meet tomorrow to practice?”

El looked up at him with a nervous expression.

“Um yeah, I have cheer practice until 3:30, but I can meet after?”

“That works for me. Um are you alright?” Mike asked.

El dropped her gaze and grabbed her backpack.

“Yeah I’m fine, I’ll see you tomorrow, Mike.” She didn’t wait for his response before she ran from the choir room.

Mike felt a sinking feeling as he watched her leave, but he tried not to dwell on it. He sighed and grabbed his own backpack before making his way to the parking lot.

Mike tried to ignore the anxiety he was feeling throughout all of Tuesday as he thought about his private practice with El that afternoon. He tried not to feel disappointed when El was so engrossed in a conversation with Jennifer Hayes in Chemistry that she didn’t notice him.

By the time school ended, he had an hour and a half before he was supposed to meet El. He decided to hang around in the auditorium until she got there. Mike noticed a guitar sitting backstage and grabbed it and began playing it. He started singing the first songs that came into his head while he waited.

Music had become a major outlet for Mike following his parent’s divorce his freshman year. He had always enjoyed listening to music, but he eventually learned he could sing and taught himself how to play guitar during this freshman year. It helped tune out his parent’s arguments and take his mind off of everything going on in his life and gave him a feeling of relief.

He had just finished singing “Wake Me Up When September Ends” when he heard the auditorium door open and El came rushing in, still in her cheerleading uniform.

“Sorry I’m late, coach needed to talk to us about the big game on Friday,” she said looking flushed as she climbed onstage with him.

Mike gave her a reassuring smile as he set the guitar down next to him. “No worries. It sounds like you have a busy day on Friday.”

El sighed and nodded. “You could say that…”

She trailed off as she sat down next to him. Mike got the sense that there was more that she was thinking.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

She sighed once more and began playing with a blue bracelet on her wrist.

“I guess I’m just nervous. My friends keep telling me I made a mistake joining show choir and I’m afraid this performance at the pep rally is going to just make them think that more. I was so excited to join and I wanted to prove to them that I could do both. I love music and I wanted them to support me for doing this. I don’t know...it’s stupid.” 

Mike shook his head. “It’s not stupid. I think it’s really cool that you joined. You’re really talented, El. You should express that. You’re going to do really well on Friday!”

El looked up at him and smiled. “Thanks, Mike. I wish Troy and my friends felt the same way though.”

Mike felt a pang in his chest at the mention of Troy. “It shouldn’t matter what they think. You’re allowed to do things that make you happy.”

“Thanks for saying that, Mike. I really appreciate it. Should we practice?”

The two spent about a half hour practicing their pep rally number, but neither of them felt like the song was doing their voices any justice. Eventually, both of them took a break, feeling discouraged.

“I’m sorry, Mike. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I just can’t get this song down,” El rambled.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. I sounded terrible and I can’t get these lyrics down. This song really sucks.”

El nodded in agreement. “I know, we’re gonna get made fun of by everyone if he really makes us do this song.”

Mike looked down at the guitar on the ground that he placed there earlier.

“Hey I have an idea. What if we try singing another song together just to shake these nerves? We’ve never actually sung together before so maybe this will help,” Mike suggested. As he said it, he suddenly felt nervous for her answer.

El gave him a grateful smile. “Yeah I think that’s a great idea! Let’s try that. What song should we sing?”

Mike thought about it as he grabbed the guitar. He started absent-mindedly strumming a familiar song, “If I Didn’t Know Better.” Before he even realized it, El had started singing along. He continued playing and joined in her singing as the two of them got lost in the song. Their voices molded together perfectly and the air around them shifted as they sang. They didn’t take their eyes off one another throughout the song and somehow had instinctively moved closer together.

By the time the song had ended, their faces were only inches away from one another. Mike felt butterflies in his stomach as he stared into El’s honey colored eyes. He was speechless. She was simply beautiful and he was overcome with a strong emotion. He felt drawn to her and he couldn’t look away. He was sure that she could read his thoughts. She too seemed to be gazing at him, which only made Mike’s head spin more.

El seemed to notice that they had moved closer as she dropped her gaze and took a few steps back. She cleared her throat before she spoke again.

“I think that sounded good.”

Mike nodded a few times before he answered. “Yeah definitely. I think it’s the song Mr. Clarke picked that isn’t working for us.”

El nodded. “I don’t think it’s working for any of us in the group. I wish he picked a song we all actually knew and that wouldn’t make us a laughing stock in front of the whole school. I want my friends to actually see how fun it is to join show choir.”

As she said this, Mike suddenly had an idea. It was crazy and would definitely get him in trouble, but he was tired of seeing El so nervous about this performance.

“I have an idea. Meet me and the rest of the group here tomorrow at 7:00 before the first bell rings.”

El looked confused but nodded.

Mike texted the rest of the group explaining that they all needed to meet first thing in the morning for an emergency show choir meeting.

When he arrived the next morning, they were all waiting for him in the auditorium. Max was the first to speak.

“Wheeler, what the hell are we doing here? Where’s Mr. Clarke?”

Mike stood in front of them and took a deep breath. 

“Mr. Clarke isn’t coming. He can’t know about this.”

The rest of the group looked at him in confusion. Mike took this as his cue to continue.

“Look, we know the song he chose for the pep rally is terrible. We’re gonna get made fun of more if we actually perform it.”

“Well yeah, but Mr. Clarke already chose it and it’s only 2 days away, there’s nothing we can do now,” Lucas said.

“Actually, there is. I have an idea. What if we perform a different song? A song that the school will actually know and like.”

“But how would we tell Mr. Clarke? He’s going to say no,” Dustin spoke up.

Mike braced himself. “We aren’t going to tell Mr. Clarke.”

His statement was met with a silence. All five of them looked at him in surprise. Suzie was the one to break the silence.

“We can’t do that! We have to just perform the song he told us to. Otherwise we’d get into so much trouble!”

“No, Mike’s right. We can’t perform that song. We’ll never live it down,” Lucas argued.

Max stood up. “Okay so it’s decided, I have a few ideas for songs we could do instead.”

Mike interrupted her. “Actually, I took care of that too.”

Max looked over at him with an annoyed expression. “No offense Wheeler, but your music taste leaves something to be desired.”

“Hey let’s hear what he’s got,” said a voice that hadn’t spoken up before.

Mike locked eyes with El who was smiling at him sweetly. He felt his cheeks heating up. Instead of answering, he passed around the sheet music for the song he had in mind.

“Okay so I was thinking El could sing this song because her voice would suit it. Max, can you do the bridge?”

Max smirked up at him. “Hell yeah I can do it. I’m surprised Wheeler, I didn’t even know you knew this song.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “I knew we needed something recognizable and something the rest of the school would want to hear. So is everyone good with this?”

Everyone nodded their heads, but Mike’s eyes found El’s who was smiling up at him looking less anxious than she did the day before. 

“Okay, let’s get to work then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hopefully the next chapter will come sooner than this one did lol
> 
> Songs that inspired/were used in this chapter:  
> Nervous by Shawn Mendes  
> Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day  
> If I Didn’t Know Better by Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen


End file.
